Berto gets his revenge, knocks out Ortiz

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By John J. Raspanti

Revenge is best served cold. Former welterweight champion Andre Berto (31-4, 24 KOs) was icy in knocking out Victor Ortiz (31-6-2, 24 KOs) in round four Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA.

Berto, 32, came out jabbing in the opening stanza. Ortiz surprised many, including Berto, by boxing from the outside. By the end of the round, Ortiz, 29, was bleeding from his hairline courtesy of an accidental head butt.

Ortiz circled to his right in round two, and let fly with left hands. The punches were landing. A few seconds later another straight left sent Berto to the canvas. Berto was up at six with a surprised look on his face. He went after Ortiz, but still wasn’t pulling the trigger enough.

Berto needed to get going in round three. He upped his intensity, but Ortiz was still beating him to the punch. Berto seemed to be warming up.

In round four, as Ortiz circled and jabbed, Berto fired a winging uppercut. The blow caught Ortiz perfectly, sending the former titleholder to the canvas. Ortiz beat the count but was obviously hurt. A barrage punches of punches sent him down again.

After Ortiz barely beat the could, referee Jack Reiss asked him if he wanted to continue.

Ortiz had no answer--so Reiss waved off the contest.

The time was 1:14 seconds into Round four.

“This was tremendous fight again,” said Berto in the ring. “He threw me off. He came to box. He knocked me down. I pressed him and pressed him. This is my most satisfying win.”